Deathshipping Week
by Mainstream-Deviant
Summary: A series of six oneshots written for Deathshipping Week on Tumblr. Each chapter has it's own theme and summary, and can be read as a standalone. (Past&Future/Battle City/Shadow Realm/Family/AU/Free Day)
1. Past-Future

**Day 1:** Past/Future. (I choose...BOTH!)

**Summary:** When Ryou got home, he was greeted with the sound of wailing zombies and harsh cursing. All in all, today was a pretty good day. (A series of brief snapshots looking back to the past and forward to the future of one possible timeline for Ryou and Yami Marik.)

~ o ~ o ~ o ~

When Ryou got home, he was greeted with the sound of wailing zombies and harsh cursing.

He smiled at the sounds as he set his bag down. They were already becoming a pleasantly familiar greeting, and it had only been a matter of weeks. He supposed that's the sort of thing that made so many others think he was a little…odd, sometimes. Oh well. He wandered into the kitchen to find something interesting to nibble on, and let his mind wander a bit as he ran his fingers over colourful packages of treats.

A month ago, Ryou had come home to absolute chaos.

Not the fun wailing zombie kind, either, but proper, complete, inexplicable chaos. He was fairly certain he'd done nothing but blink in confusion for a solid two minutes after he'd opened his door. What looked like every item he owned had been strewn about the apartment, and a chair had been broken into several large chunks in the entryway to boot. When he first heard the snarling sound coming from the next room, he'd thought perhaps a feral dog had broken in. The wild blond spikes would have still been a surprise even if he'd been expecting a visitor from the shadow realm, though. It had been a rather memorable day, all told.

A week later, Ryou had come home to a quiet house and a rather horribly over-steeped cup of tea sitting on the counter waiting for him.

In the days between, he'd learned that he'd inadvertently created a small pocket of liminal space in the corner of his living room. Naturally, since he hadn't realized what he'd done and left it unattended for _five bloody minutes, _the ring spirit had used it to worm his way out of the shadow realm with Marik's dark half caught in his wake. The thief had skulked off to find his old partner long before Ryou got home, leaving his companion lost and confused behind him. Ryou had wished Marik the best of luck with the spirit, and set about reintroducing his own houseguest to the world. Discovering video games as an outlet for violent urges had certainly helped the state of his furniture. They'd been settling into a kind of cautious companionship ever since, and Ryou had been delighted at the small gifts that started appearing for him, horribly over-steeped or not.

Some weeks from now, Ryou would come home to a grumpy looking Marik sitting alone on his couch.

It would turn out, ever so _very_ shockingly, that Bakura could still be a right proper asshole. It would also turn out, rather more genuinely shockingly, that Marik's other half still had a viciously protective streak for his former host. When Marik would come to the crux of his story, his other half would burst into the room in a rage, much to everyone's surprise – including his, judging from the bemused look on his face afterwards. But Bakura would not end up murdered for his misdeeds, quite possibly only because Ryou marched over there himself and gave him a thorough tongue-lashing. Everyone would get along rather better after the whole debacle.

Not long after Marik's visit, Ryou would come home to a much more successful cup of tea and an awkward attempt at affection.

By then, Marik's other half – who would eventually settle upon the name "Kek" – would take an interest in helping cook. As a result, Ryou's tea was always much tastier. They would settle on the couch as the pots and pans simmered, and Ryou would try his best to hold back his giggles as Kek tried to find a way to ever-so-casually thread an arm over his shoulders without looking too conspicuous. Ryou would settle in with a happy hum, and when Kek awkwardly asked if it was ok to be doing this, he'd reply with a kiss.

And eventually, one day Ryou would come home to a plate of homemade cream puffs, and be presented with a much better golden ring than the one he'd worn as a teenager.

But of course, Ryou didn't know any of that yet. Today, he was quite content to settle down on the couch next to his odd new roommate, just in time to watch him get his character's head blown off again and snarl at the screen in frustration. Ryou tossed the bag of sweets on the table and made a grab for the controller.

"Ok, gimme that. I'm going to show you how this is done."

~ o ~ o ~ o ~

_A/N: As always, I appreciate any and all forms of feedback - please feed the author! I'll be honest: These stories were posted to Tumblr and A03 at beginning of June, and I 100% *forgot* to upload them here because this site is so quiet. So yes, your reviews DO make a huge difference if this is your favouite reading spot. You - yes, you! - have the power to get more things uploaded on time. Use it wisely. ;)_


	2. Battle City

**Day 2: **Battle City

**Summary: **_"You know, I've never really heard any stories about your glory days directly from you."_ Ryou is curious about what Mariku really did in Battle City. Mariku is more than happy to give him a demonstration.

(Content warning: cannon-typical mentions of gore (aka playful decapitation), implications of odd turn-ons because these two are weird.

~ o ~ o ~ o ~

"You know, I've never really heard any stories about your glory days directly from you."

Mariku looked down at his chest, where Ryou was smiling gently up at him. What the hell sort of glory days was he even talking about? Ryou had been around for all the best of them, he didn't need stories. Watching some random slasher movie while using Ryou as a blanket was just about peak "glory days" as it was. He let his confusion settle on his face in a frown.

"What glory days?"

Ryou perked up and sat back. "You know - " and here he gestured vaguely back at the cackling hero in the film, " – the glory days of maniacal laughter and evil plots. I was under for most of Battle City, so I missed all the good parts."

Mariku threw back his head with a cackle. "Only you would think the shit that went down on that blimp were the 'good parts' of the tournament."

Ryou just pouted. "But it sounds fascinating! Everyone else only ever gave me censored versions. Well, except Bakura, but I'm not dumb enough to believe more than half of his boasting. You can give me the real story! Everyone goes on and on about how scary you were, but they skimp on the details. Please?" Ryou crossed his arms over Mariku's chest and propped his chin on them, blinking up at Mariku with the widest eyes he could manage. It was sickeningly cute, and it was an absolute disgrace how well it worked. Shit, he'd gone soft.

"You're so weird."

Ryou beamed. "And that's why you love me."

"Fucking right." Mariku nudged Ryou off his lap, playfully licking at his temple as he did so. Ryou giggled and settled on the couch, ever the eager audience.

The next couple of hours passed in a haze of laughter, gasps, and the occasional cringe. Mariku felt himself get more and more swept up in the excitement of reliving those wild shadow magic fuelled days. Why the fuck hadn't they done this earlier? Ryou, for his part, seemed happy to just listen to the stories. That is, until Mariku got to the horrors he'd created for his duel with Mai.

"You _decapitated _yourself?!"

Mariku smirked at Ryou's starry-eyed expression. "The shadows let you make any nightmare real."

"Ok, you _have_ to show me that."

Spurred on by Ryou's rapt expression, Mariku looked around for props. His eyes settled on the thin blanket on the back of the couch and his grin widened. "As you wish." He whipped the blanket around his shoulders in a poor imitation of his battle city cape and called up enough shadows to show off some of his more creative horror fantasies.

He had gotten to the point of swinging his head by one hand, mid-diatribe, when he noticed how awkwardly Ryou was sitting and cut himself off with a bark of laughter. He leaned down close and grinned at Ryou.

"…do you seriously have a boner right now?"

Ryou gasped with laughter at the sudden change of tone, and curled into a ball as he gasped for air between outbursts. "Oh gods, please say you didn't say that to Mai!" Ryou reached up to wipe the tears from the corners of his eyes.

Mariku scoffed. "Of course not. You're the only person I've met that can get off on this kind of crap." Mariku's head grinned where it dangled from his fingers, and he decided the rest of the stories could wait. "Here. Catch."

Ryou let out a yelp of surprise as he reached out to grab the head that had just been tossed at his chest. He pecked a kiss to the forehead, and Mariku delighted in Ryou's shout of laugher as his body tackled them both back onto the couch.

~ o ~ o ~ o ~

_A/N: And they lived weirdly every after. _


	3. Shadow Realm

(Note: Day 3 was skipped, since another in-progress story already fit the theme)

**Day 4**: Shadow Realm

**Summary: **All Ryou wanted to do was meet a real live monster. That's not too much to ask, is it?

~ o ~ o ~ o ~

They were painting some of Ryou's latest figurines when it first came up.

"You know… after all that happened, it's odd to think that I never really got to play a shadow game myself."

Kek cursed as a glob of paint ruined the end of his figurine's cape. "Sure you did. You must have, at some point."

"No, not really. Bakura did all of that while I was stuffed in my soul room away from the action. I never got to actually meet any of the monsters."

"What about that one duel in Battle City?"

Ryou glared over the top of a 6-inch-tall tree. "Thirty seconds of severe disorientation doesn't count."

Kek huffed. "Maybe not." He set down his brush and stretched out his back with a wince. "But you're not missing much."

"I still think it would be a really interesting experience, though." Kek just hummed, and they went back to work. The topic drifted to other things as they slowly brought the figurines for their next campaign to life.

But the thing about Ryou Bakura is that when he gets an idea into his head, he doesn't let it go until he'd seen it through. He brought it up again over dinner a few days later.

"Oh come on, let's just try it!" Ryou gave Kek a hopeful grin.

"You've been sent to the shadows before. I don't want to send you there again." Kek pushed some rice around his plate with a frown.

"It would be more like a short vacation this time, really. And I don't remember much of anything from the shadow realm the first time around, so that hardly counts. What I remember best is being famished when I got back, which isn't terribly exciting. And besides," Ryou waved a rice paper roll in Kek's direction to emphasize his point, "this time I would have a guide to show me all the sights! It would be an adventure!"

Kek huffed and crossed his arms. "No. You could get hurt." He knew – and so did Ryou, unfortunately for him – that he'd do almost anything for Ryou at this point, but putting Ryou in danger was definitely on the short list of exceptions.

Ryou huffed and chomped the end off of his roll, but promptly hooked his ankle around Kek's to reassure him before leaping into gossip about Bakura's latest escapades. They took bets on how many KaibaCorp employees were likely to get fired over them this time. Ryou figured at least three. Kek's money was on more like ten. Kaiba must be pissed by now.

It took another week for Kek to finally crack. Ryou was splayed out on the couch, pouting as he fiddled with some loose threads on the armrest. "Pleeeeease? Just a very little visit. You know I'm not going to drop it until I see a real monster with my own eyes. We'll be very careful. You know you can protect me, even if I manage to do something stupid." Ryou was met with more silence, and tilted his head imploringly. "Pleeeeeeease? I'll love you forever."

Kek finally let out a huff of laughter. "I thought you already did?"

Ryou knew a victory when he saw one, and swapped his pout for a wide grin. "I'll love you extra forever, then. Come on, come on, let's try it!"

Kek let out a long sigh. "Ugh. Fine. But I'm pulling us out the instant something comes to attack you."

"But not if it's just saying hello." Ryou's face had settled into a small but determined scowl.

Kek levelled his best glare on Ryou. Ryou glared right back. Kek let out a self-deprecating chuckle and rubbed at his temple. "Fine. Deal."

Ryou perked right up again. "Deal." He clapped his hands and bounced in his seat excitedly. "Ok, let's go! I want to meet some monsters!" When Kek held his arms out in invitation, he hopped to his feet and scurried over.

Kek wrapped his arms securely around Ryou's stomach and pressed him back to his chest, before closing his eyes and tugging on the thin thread that would always connect him to the shadows. He felt Ryou's excited fingers gripping at his forearms as a warm glow burst from his forehead and the room darkened in a swirl of deep purple. For a few long moments, all was silent. Then, Ryou was batting excitedly at his arms.

"Kek, Kek look! Isn't that one of your cards?"

Kek opened his eyes and looked to where Ryou was pointing. There was a brief swoop of pale blue before the creature vanished again in a puff of purple smoke.

Kek grinned. "I think so, yes." He kept one arm firmly around Ryou's waist as they walked toward it. "Not a bad one for a first visit, either."

Ryou gasped in delight as the creature swirled into view. It formed a lopsided face for a moment before looping around them. "I think it's curious!" Ryou held out his fingers and practically shone in happiness as some loops of blue slime curled around his fingers. "Why didn't you tell me revival jam was so cute in person!"

Kek rubbed at Ryou's hip with his thumb. "I didn't stop to talk to any of these at the time, you know."

"You should have. He's delightf- oh!" Ryou startled as his hand was suddenly encased in cool slime and a wobbly blue face formed a few inches from his nose. "Why hello! It's nice to meet you!" Revival jam trembled for a moment, before slipping away back into the shadows.

Ryou clapped his hands. "That was amazing!"

"I'm glad. Let's get out of here before…" Kek tensed as the shadows to their left rippled. That looked like something considerably larger than a revival jam.

Ryou held still and lowered his voice to a whisper. "What is it?"

Kek tightened his arm around Ryou and squinted into the nothingness. "I'm not quite sure. Something bigger."

"Let's see what it is!"

"Stay still, Ryou."

Ryou nodded and kept his eyes trained on where they'd seen the last disturbance. Every few seconds there was a new ripple in the wall of darkness, but nothing came out. Kek growled. "Get on with it, would you?"

Almost as though it had been waiting for an invitation, a vicious looking claw emerged from the shadows, followed by a blue hand tipped with sharpened nails.

"Oh, that's definitely not the jam back again, is it?"

"Hmm. No." The beast stepped out of the shadows, gaping at them with the fanged mouth sitting where its stomach should have been. "That's Dark Jeroid." The creature stood as tall as a horse, though with far too many limbs, and waved its long upper claws at them slowly as it approached.

"He's lovely!" Ryou held out a hand. "Do you think he'll let me touch him?"

"Hell if I know, Ryou." Kek shuffled them around to face the monster properly. "Try not to lose a hand when you try."

"Oh, pssssh, I won't. He's a nice friendly fiend, isn't he? Yes you are." Ryou reached out and gently ran his fingers along one of Dark Jeroid's limbs. "Oh, he's lovely and warm. What a good beastie!"

Kek watched in bemusement as his supposedly horrifying and vicious beast gave an awful, ear-grating moan and shuffled closer to Ryou's reaching fingers. Ryou was clearly thrilled. He reached out with both hands to run his palms along the top of the creature's torso, where the it was noticeably lacking anything like a regular head.

Loud, rattling gasps started coming from both of the creature's mouths, and Kek could only assume they were a Dark Jeroid's equivalent of a purr. Kek's silent bemusement gave way to a low chuckle, which quickly became a loud burst of laughter when the beast knelt down, tucked its limbs up underneath itself, and settled its weight into their sides like an overgrown housecat. He reached out to grasp one of the vicious-looking claws and shook his head as Ryou enthusiastically started searching for the best spots to pet the beast.

"Only you, Ryou." Kek laid his third eye on top of Ryou's head as Ryou continued to coo at the monster, which was now lazily flicking its tail back and forth as Ryou ran tender fingers along its limbs. "Only you."

~ o ~ o ~ o ~

_A/N:_ _I can't tell if this story is just about the fact that Ryou is a friend to all scary things, or whether it's more about Ryou earning the stamp of approval from his boyfriend's buddies. You know, kind of like: "So, uh, guys, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend Ryou…please be cool about this..."_


	4. Family

**Day 5: **Family

**Summary: **_"I think I may have to kill him." "Please don't kill your nephew. I don't have money for bail right now." _(Ryou comes home to the aftermath of an eventful day with Uncle Kek.)

(No children were harmed in the making of this drabble, promise. Fluff is still my brand and I have no regrets.)

~ o ~ o ~ o ~

Ryou came home to find Kek collapsed on a chair looking thoroughly harassed. Apparently, this had not been one of the smoother days. Oh dear.

Kek lolled his head over when he heard Ryou dropping his bag down near the door. "I think I may have to kill him."

"Please don't kill your nephew. I don't have money for bail right now." Ryou plopped himself down on the arm on the chair. "Besides, then your brother would kill _you,_ and that would completely ruin our weekend plans."

Kek let out a humourless chuckle and sighed, letting his eyes drift shut. He leaned his head into Ryou's gentle caresses when Ryou starting carding his fingers through his hair. That was a good sign, at least, so it can't have been all that bad. "What happened? I'm sorry I couldn't join you today. It sounds like you could have used the backup."

"He's a reckless little shit." Kek cracked one eye open to glance at Ryou as a frown settled on his face. "He's going to get himself seriously hurt if he keeps that up."

"And killing him stops him from getting hurt, then?" Ryou raised an eyebrow and flashed Kek a crooked grin.

Kek leaned his head against Ryou's thigh with a huff. "Maybe." He paused for a moment before propping his chin on Ryou's leg and gazing up at him through his bangs. "I can't protect him if he keeps climbing all over things and poking at stuff where he's not supposed to go. He's infuriating."

Ryou chuckled. Kek was practically pouting, he was so put out at having his protectiveness expertly circumvented by a small child. "He's also a seven-year-old boy, what do you expect?"

"How the hell do I know what seven-year-old boys do?"

"Point." Ryou hummed and gave Kek a gentle smile. "Well, it's not unusual for them to be reckless little shits, for one. But they can get away with it alright because they're also generally quite adorable. He certainly is."

"When he's not being a little shit."

Ryou nodded. "When he's not being a little shit." They shared a wide grin. "Well, I assume you returned with no major blood or broken bones, at any rate, and I think we can count that as a win." Kek's chuckle was a little livelier at that, and Ryou leaned over to worm a kiss to the top of Kek's head through his hair. "And I can help with 'babysitting, round 3' tomorrow."

Kek tipped his head back to give Ryou a cheeky grin "You may regret offering to help. He's a hellion worthy of the Ishtar name."

Ryou just laughed. "That's my favourite type."

~ o ~ o ~ o ~

_A/N:_ _The nephew isn't supposed to be anyone in particular - he's like a "choose your own headcannon" adventure. Please let me know what your headcannons are! Who do YOU think the kid is? I didn't have much in mind, besides that he's a pain in Kek's ass. Lol! _


	5. AUs

**Day 6: **AUs (I went with a demon-summoning AU)

**Summary:** When the most fearsome demon of the Shadows is called to the mortal realm, he finds that his summoner is rather different than he would normally expect.

~ o ~ o ~ o ~

He felt the realms shift around him and wondered what kind of fool had summoned him this time. Would they be confused and frightened? Desperate and emotional? Ah, maybe it would be another cocky asshole. It was deliciously satisfying to rip their larynx out the moment they made an error in their arrogance. What a lovely crunching sound they made. It had been too long since he'd had a chance to enjoy it.

He unfurled his deep gold wings with his usual flare and lolled his head forward with his customarily vicious fang-filled grin to stare down upon his latest summoner. He opened his mouth to announce his prese-

"Why hello there! It's wonderful to meet you!"

Had he been less experienced, he's sure his terrifying veneer would have faltered. This human – this _boy,_ he looked to be barely out of adolescence, for fuck's sake – wasn't displaying any of the correct emotions. He looked perfectly calm, and was beaming up at him with… happiness? His gentle smile was framed with whirls of unusual soft white hair, and his eyes sparkled as he gazed up at the demon in what may well have been rapt admiration. His face shone with innocence. He looked positively cherubic.

What the _fuck_.

"Who the hell are you?"

The boy's smile beamed. It was almost unnerving. "Oh, I'm the one who summoned you here! Don't worry, you're in the right spot."

Hmm. Perhaps he'd found easy prey, after all. A wide grin settled back over his fangs and he adopted a gentlemanly demeanour. "I see. And what is your name, my summoner, so that I may address you properly?"

The cherubic smile never faltered. "Oh, I won't be giving you my name, of course. What's yours?" The boy's glassy eyes became just a fraction sharper, and the grin perhaps a fraction wider. Not so easy prey, then. Interesting.

"Beings born of the Shadows have no need of a name, Summoner."

"Very well, no names. Glad we're in agreement."

He felt his scowl deepen in annoyance. "For what purpose have you summoned me here to this wretched plane, child?"

"Well, firstly, to talk."

His wings drooped a couple of inches at that, and he found he had to actively resist tilting his head to the side like a confused hellpup. "To… talk."

"Oh yes, I can't possibly pass up on an opportunity like this. And it's not like you're in any particular hurry to leave, are you?"

Now the demon was certain the little cherub-boy's eyes glinted. He peered closely at them. They seemed almost to change colour in the shifting light of the room. How very unusual a boy indeed. He was definitely not the ignorant babe he appeared to be. A worthy opponent, at last. He crossed his arms and glared down his nose, eager to see what other surprises this boy would provide him.

"So talk."

A startled blush crept to the tops of the boy's cheeks. "Oh! Um…", a delicate hand ruffled the back of his puff of snowy hair. _Now_ he was self-conscious? What a truly bizarre specimen. "…what do you want to talk about?"

He sharpened his glare. Surely, this clever boy didn't think he would freely offer up information with nothing but a vague invitation like that. "Whatever you wish, my summoner." He grinned and ran his long, forked tongue over his canines. "Or have you called forth a demon 'to talk' without having anything to actually say?"

The boy huffed. "Well, it's not like I do this on a regular basis. I'm in training to be a white mage, obviously, not a diabolist. Or did you not notice my robes?"

The demon scoffed. As if any being, from any plane, would fail to notice the boy's appearance. "You would be noticeable to the blind. You appear to have been born to your roll, with your… delicate… colouring."

"Well yes, I take after my mother in that way." The boy's expression softened. Ah, a weak point. And perhaps…

"And I suppose you inherited your skills from her as well, then."

The boy's smile had become somewhat stilted. "I don't actually know, she died when I was very young." The demon waited a moment, but no more information seemed to be forthcoming. That wouldn't do.

"And what of your father, then?"

"He sent me to apprentice here not long after that." The boy was frowning, now. Very interesting indeed. But perhaps for another time. He didn't want to scare this morsel away entirely just yet. He gave the boy a haughty look.

"For all that practice, you make a poor white mage's apprentice, summoning a creature like me."

"I'll have you know I'm an excellent and skilled apprentice. After all, I summoned you and not some tiny feral imp, didn't I?" He refused to grace that with a response, so the boy continued. "I'm allowed to find the more occult teachings interesting too, you know, even if everyone else finds it strange."

"You may well be the first apprentice of your kind, my most unusual summoner." He stepped closer to the boy, leering over the edge of his circle. The telltale tingle of an exceptionally well-crafted binding spell lingered on his arms as he did. The boy had yet to show even a trace of fear, even as he approached. He must know how clever a prison he'd built, then. How delightfully fascinating.

The boy shrugged. "Possibly. Having an interest in the more occult teachings is a rather…isolating quality. Not many would speak of it like I do."

The demon let out a burst of harsh cackling laughter. "And so the poor lonely baby mage summoned himself a demon friend?"

"Well, I wouldn't call you a friend just yet."

The demon's laughter calmed, but his grin remained. "Clever boy. I do believe you're in the wrong profession."

"I happen to disagree."

"And yet you summoned me rather than a kindly spirit guide more suited to your supposed station."

"I'm a multitalented apprentice then, I suppose." Was that the hint of a smirk on the boy's face? What a delicious expression that made. He ran his tongue over his fangs once more.

"Surely your master would have some rather specific opinions about your 'many talents', child."

The boy shrugged one shoulder. "Well, I had need of you, so here we are. The rest of the details don't matter much, now that you're here."

"Hmm, perhaps." He stretched out his wings a fraction and straightened his posture to loom down on the boy once more. "And now, child, I must insist on knowing your real purpose for summoning me. There is no soul alive who summons my kind _purely_ out of loneliness, unusual interests or not."

The young man gave the demon one more thoughtful look, then finally clambered to his feet and patted the dust from his long robes. "Yes, I suppose you've fulfilled my request to talk."

There was a brief pause, and the boy glanced back over his shoulder. "Well, you see, my master has possession of a couple of very unusual artefacts, but he refuses to speak much of them. That's very unlike him, and I simply _must_ know more about them if I can. They're surely important or powerful, or both, with the way they're treated." The boy walked away and carefully picked up a large box from a nearby shelf, where it had been draped in heavy rune-patterned cloth. "And since they share the same symbol as your summoning, I thought you may be able to tell me more."

The boy carefully carried the box within view of the circle and gently pushed aside the cloth. This revealed a glass-topped container which was clearly meant to display its contents, despite having been wrapped up in cloth moments earlier. The demon could barely contain his glee when the artefacts were brought into view. At last. He widened his grin in a way he hoped the boy would expect from an accommodating demonic guest.

"Certainly, my summoner. You are quite intuitive to notice that the main symbol may be familiar to me. Now, boy, why don't you hold the rod out closer to me first, and I'll see what I can find out." He reached out a clawed hand invitingly. "You can keep the ring for now."

~ o ~ o ~ o ~

_A/N: -squints at drabble- It feels like there's probably a much longer story buried in there somewhere, but I'm not sure what it is. What do you think happens next? :o Please let me know - I got some interesting headcannons on the other sites, so what'cha got, ffnet?  
_


	6. Free Day

**Day 7: **Free day

**Summary: **_"And eventually, one day Ryou would come home to a plate of homemade cream puffs, and be presented with a much better golden ring than the one he'd worn as a teenager." _(And here we come full circle for deathshipping week, with this callback to part of Day 1's ficlet.)

~ o ~ o ~ o ~

Kek cursed as another glob of dough stuck to his fingers. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves as he held back a frustrated growl. Everything was well in hand. Everything would be perfect. He gently pried the sticky mess from his fingers before dipping his fingertips in water to reform the dough into something better resembling a round blob. A small grin spread across his face as the dough finally cooperated. At least this was all going substantially better than the first time he'd attempted it. He'd still been a bit of a disaster in those days.

_Kek snarled and only avoided throwing the gods-forsaken bowl across the kitchen because Ryou blocked him. "It won't fucking combine right! This is stupid!"_

_"It will too combine right if you have just a little patience! Stop and take a breath before you plunge my kitchen into a shadow game or something. Honestly." Ryou's glare was never as intimidating as he seemed to think it was, but this one was particularly vicious, at least by his standards. "I'm serious, Kek. Stop. Three deep breaths, before you start breaking things again."_

_Kek growled but slammed his eyes shut and obeyed. He huffed out three quick breaths of air and opened his eyes, still scowling. _

_"Three _proper_ breaths. I mean it." Ryou had added crossed arms to his little scowl. He looked like a grumpy kitten._

_Even still, Ryou meant Kek's glare without flinching, and after a few long moments Kek acquiesced and closed his eyes again. He sucked in a deep lungful of air, letting it out slowly to the count of three the way Ryou had showed him. He repeated the action, hoping that it would stop Ryou's complaining. _

_The fact that he felt substantially calmer after completing the little ritual was surely a coincidence. _

_He opened his eyes, and was met with Ryou's cheerful smile. "There. Feel better? You look calmer, anyways."_

_Kek grunted and shrugged a shoulder. "That didn't help the damn recipe, though."_

_"Well, no, but you might have ten seconds of patience to watch me help you now. C'mon, I'll show you." Ryou stepped up to the bowl and went back to mixing the batter. Nothing happened for a while, and Kek was ready to open his mouth and gloat. Then, as though by magic, the batter seemed to instantly transform from a mess of floury globs and stringy egg into a thick smooth paste._

_"See? Patience. Cream puffs really aren't that hard, but you have to take the time to do it right."_

Ryou had been incredibly patient throughout the whole ordeal. How Ryou had found the patience to try to teach a "useful skill" like cooking to someone who hadn't even figured out how to be a proper human being yet was still beyond him. Kek had wanted to be helpful, true, but surely there would have been a better way. Still, he was thankful for it – for all of it. Kek formed the last little blob of dough and slipped the pan into the oven. There.

While the shells cooked, he worked on getting everything else set up. By the time they were cooked and cooled, the apartment was tidy and smelled like the fresh flowers he'd bought earlier that morning.

Kek grabbed a small paring knife and picked up the first shell. With a grin, he started stabbing small holes in the bottom of the pastries so he could fill them. This was definitely still the fun part.

_"These look pretty good for your first try! Aren't you glad you didn't throw the batter across the kitchen?"_

_Kek poked at one of the crisp brown little balls, and looked up at Ryou's joyful expression. He didn't really get it, but Ryou seemed happy. "I guess? They don't look very interesting."_

_"Well, that's because they're not done yet. Here!" Kek blinked as Ryou handed him a small knife. "We have to stab them a bit so we have a place to put the filling in." _

_Kek's grin widened, and he quickly ran one of the balls through with the knife to the hilt. He held the skewered pastry out to Ryou with a flourish. "Now what?"_

_Ryou burst out laughing. "Um…maybe that one is a practice puff, then. They only need to be poked a little bit. That one will leak all over. Here, see?" Ryou pulled out another small knife and delicately cut an x into the base of one of the other puffs. "Then you can fill it with something sweet without it exploding everywhere."_

_Ryou's method didn't seem like nearly as much fun, but Kek soon found that they still made a delightful crunching sound as he inserted the blade. That was better than nothing, at least. _

Kek put the last filled pastry back on the tray and grinned. They looked pretty good. He drizzled them with splatters of white chocolate he'd dyed a deep blood red. It wasn't exactly the traditional topping, but fuck it, they weren't the most traditional people to begin with. Now, one last touch and he'd be ready.

Kek had just placed the last puff on the very top of the stack when he heard the front door open, and Ryou's cheerful voice calling out a greeting.

Kek hurried to the door and pecked a kiss to Ryou's lips as soon as he could. "Welcome home."

Ryou beamed. His smile was easily the best part of any given day. "Thanks. Ugh, I'm so done with running around, I'm ready for a of night cuddling and watching horror films. You in?"

"Absolutely." Kek wrapped an arm around Ryou's waist. "I made you a treat, too. Come see."

Ryou perked up when he saw that they were heading to the kitchen. "Ooooh, I like where this is going. Is it something tasty?"

"Keh, I hope so. I learned from the best."

Kek preened a bit at Ryou's happy squeal when he saw the pile of cream puffs. "Ooh, they look so good! And the red icing is perfect for a horror movie night. I love them." Ryou reached up to peck a kiss to Kek's cheek. "In fact, I'm going to steal one right now. Who says you have to eat dinner first?" Ryou plucked a creampuff off the top of the pile and gleefully shoved the whole thing in his mouth.

Kek's eyes widened. "No, wait! Maybe you should – " Kek was cut off by Ryou suddenly going into a horrible coughing fit. He spit out the mess into his hand and slapped it down on the table as he gasped for air. Kek cringed and ran a comforting hand up and down Ryou's back. That could have gone better.

"Are you ok? I didn't mean to hurt you."

Ryou's breathing had calmed down and he glanced up at Kek. "I'm fine. I think maybe you lost the piping nozzle in that one or something though. You know, if you wanted to kill me you really should have picked something more elegant than a pastry tool. I'm almost insulted." Ryou gave Kek a cheeky grin and grabbed a napkin to start cleaning the mess. Kek started to internally panic.

"Well, actually I-"

Ryou froze and looked up at Kek with wide eyes as he held the napkin out. "Kek…is this a ring?"

Kek gave a rather sheepish chuckle. "Um…yes? Surprise?" He watched while Ryou stared down at the cream-covered ring in his hand for several long moments, apparently stunned to silence. "I didn't mean to practically kill you with it though."

Kek wasn't quite sure if the sound Ryou made was a laugh or a sob, but he didn't have time to figure it out before his arms were full and it didn't matter anymore anyways. He crushed Ryou to his chest and nuzzled into his hair. "I assume that's a yes?"

Ryou leaned back to cup Kek's cheek in his hand. "You know it would have been a yes even if you _were_ trying to kill me with it." Kek get out a happy burst of laughter and swooped down to capture Ryou's mouth in a kiss. He'd been right. Everything had gone perfectly.

~ o ~ o ~ o ~

_A/N: There we have it! This was a fun little event. I hope you enjoyed it over here, too. Please leave a comment, or some find me on Tumblr if you want to leave an anon message. I'd love to hear from you. :)_


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